Lovestruck Summer by Melissa Walker (best management books of all time txt) 📕

and I do feel stuck at Penny’s condo. I have about two thousand dollars saved up for the summer from my movie theater job in North Carolina. I cannot explain what it takes to save two thou- sand dollars on minimum wage, but let’s just call it two years of popcorn shifts and very little new clothing. “I could probably spend like fi ve hundred dollars,”I say, calculating things in my head. “That’ll get you something nice at Albie’s,”he says, sitting up to face me. Then he starts explaining that Albie is this old guy who lives outside of town and has a lot full of eclectic cars.

48 In the mottled sunlight through the trees, Russ looks like an old movie star, someone out of a Western who belongs on a horse with a gun slung around his waist. But here he is, on my blanket in the shade. And when he’s not being obnoxious, he’s kind of . . . “You hungry?”he asks, interrupting my inappropriate daydream and fi nally spitting out that blade of grass. “Starving,”I say, feeling friendly toward Russ for the fi rst time. He’s not a bad guy, he’s just not my type, I remind myself. “I thought maybe the grape-and-grape- NERDS diet Penny lives on might not work for a girl like you who enjoys her tortilla-fried catfi sh,”he says, standing up and offering me his hand. I laugh. He remembered what I ordered last week. “Let’s go get some real food,”he says. After a huge burger that tastes like heaven, Russ asks me if I want to hang out tonight. The weird thing is, I don’t fully want to say no. But I have to.

49 “I’ve got plans,”I say. Tonight is the night I meet Sebastian the DJ. I’ve already made him my summer fl ing . . . in my own mind anyway. I even IMed with Raina about it last night, and she agreed that with a name like Sebastian, he has to be The Supreme. “That’s cool,”says Russ, yawning and stretching his arms over his head as we fi nish our walk back to the condo. “So I’ll come over tomorrow morning and we’ll go to Albie’s to car-shop. Remember to get out some cash tonight—he doesn’t take credit cards.”“Okay,”I say. “It’s a date,”he says, walking up to his door while I head to mine. “Well, it’s not a date,”I clarify. “Relax, Priscilla,”he says, smiling and shak- ing his head. “It’s just an expression.”I sigh audibly in frustration. Why can’t he just call me Quinn?! I slam the door and I can hear his loud, whooping laugh through the wall. I stomp up the stairs to take a long shower while Penny’s not here. As much as I hate to admit it, I enjoy the amount of product she has in her bathroom. I get to choose between four

50 pairings of shampoo and conditioner, not to mention three scents of body wash and six (six!) facial cleansers. If I approved of such excess, I’d really get into this. But I don’t. Well, at least not in theory. When I go downstairs to get dressed, I plug my iPod into the stereo. I almost put on the Walters, but I wonder if Russ can hear through the walls. I choose Seasick Pandas instead and turn up the volume. Their fast-paced guitar riffs put me in a dancing mood as I pull on my favorite pair of faded jeans and a free shirt that I got when I subscribed to NYLON magazine last year. It’s white with hot pink lettering, and I cut out the neckline a little bit and washed it a ton of times to make it stretchy and a little faded. I love free shirts. I sneak back upstairs to put some of Penny’s various volume-gel-hair-thickening- beach-texture gunk in my hair, which has faded to a pale greenish-blue hue and is growing out a little. When I try out some light mascara and a slash of dark red lipstick, I notice that Miss Tiara is in the bathroom with me, her head cocked sideways.

51 “What?”I ask her. “I may not be Party Penny’s style of hot, but I think I look good.”Miss Tiara barks her approval. Or disap- proval. Who can tell? Either way, I feel ready for tonight. I go downstairs and sit on my couch- bed, awaiting Jade. The hanging-around-to-be-picked-up time after getting ready to go out is always a buzz- kill. I grab some candy from my cousin’s over- fl owing jar in the kitchen and suck on a Sugar Daddy to keep my energy up. Finally, the doorbell rings. I leave a quick note for Penny telling her not to wait up, and I head into the night for my fi rst Austin music experience.

52 Chapter 6 At Dirty’s, the scene is all pool tables and neon beer signs, despite the fact that Friday night is eighteen and older, so everyone can enjoy the DJs. There’s a dartboard in the corner and a row of arcade games along one wall. When we get there, I immediately notice him despite all the lit-up distractions. Sebastian. It’s like a spotlight is shining on the DJ booth. “I see him!”I say to Jade excitedly. “That’s probably because there’s a spotlight on the DJ booth,”she says. Riiight. I silently acknowledge that I could possibly be a little overexcited here. “Introduce me!”I say. “Oh, I don’t know him,”she says. “I just thought he matched your description perfectly.”And he does. Black hair smoothed out into

Lovestruck Summer

53 a hipster cut that hangs in a wavy line around his face, almost covering his intense green eyes, which are framed by large oval glasses with a dark olive-colored edge. He looks like an album cover for a band I’d really like. Jade’s tugging my arm over to the DJ booth. But without her intro, how will I ever get up the nerve to—“I’m Jade. And this is Quinn.”I guess Jade has nerve enough for